Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

lord hunt of chesterton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research by the Renewable Energy Foundation,The Performance of Wind Farms in the UK and Denmark, published in December 2012, which demonstrates that the working lifetime of offshore wind turbines is shorter than previously thought; whether they intend to revise their low carbon-energy policy or policy on wind turbines as a result; and whether they support any development to turbine technology which could deliver increases to their working lifetime.

lord henley: The Department periodically reviews the evidence base on the generation costs of renewable electricity technologies, including their operational lifetimes, and when appropriate publishes reports on the topic. The most recent of these publications can be found on the gov.uk website, and a copy is also attached here.The UK’s oldest offshore windfarm, Blyth (off the coast of Northumberland), was commissioned in 2000 and is still in operation today. The world’s oldest offshore windfarm, Vindeby in Denmark, was decommissioned in 2017 after 25 years of operation.The Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult has a programme of work looking at lifetime asset management and has recently announced an operations & maintenance centre of excellence in collaboration with the University of Hull.



BEIS Electricity Generation Cost Report
(PDF Document, 1 MB)

Financial Reporting Council Independent Review

baroness mcdonagh: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the minutes of the September meeting of the Independent Review of the Financial Reporting Council; and if so, when.

lord henley: In accordance with the Review’s terms of reference, a summary of the discussion held at the September 2018 meeting of the Review’s Advisory Group will be made available in due course.

Insolvency

baroness hayter of kentish town: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with each EU member state regarding the impact on UK and EU trade of a no deal Brexit scenario in relation to cross border insolvency.

lord henley: The Government has engaged with the EU and Member States on the importance of continued cooperation in respect of civil judicial matters, including cross-border insolvency. In doing so we have highlighted the role that civil judicial cooperation plays in enabling businesses to trade with confidence across borders, providing legal certainty in cross-border transactions and avoiding delays and excessive costs. The Government has therefore made clear that an effective framework of civil judicial cooperation is an important part of the deep and special partnership we want to establish with the EU on exit, and is in the best interests of both the UK and the EU. This ambition was set out in the Government’s position paper on Civil Judicial Cooperation, “Providing a cross-border civil judicial cooperation framework”, issued on 22 August 2017, and confirmed in the White Paper “The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union” published on 12 July 2018.

Housing: Energy

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of research carried out by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and Nottingham Trent University published in their report Scaling Up Retrofit 2050, and the report’s conclusions that meeting legal energy-savings target set in the Climate Change Act 2008 will not be possible by relying on new builds alone; and what plans they have to encourage more retrofitting of old, cold homes to meet 2050 climate targets.

lord henley: The Government agrees that retrofit of existing buildings is a crucial part of meeting our goals. In the Clean Growth Strategy published last year, we set an aspiration that as many homes as possible should be upgraded to an Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2035, where practical, cost-effective and affordable. We set out a range of policies and proposals towards meeting the aspiration, across both owner occupied and rented homes. In May, my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced the Buildings mission under the Clean Growth Grand Challenge. This set an ambition to halve the energy use of new buildings by 2030, as well as halving the cost of reaching the same standard in existing buildings. In order to reduce costs for retrofit and build supply chain capacity we are launching five demonstration projects to address the non-financial barriers to retrofit, such as supply chain fragmentation and the high hassle costs of installing measures.

Climate Change: USA

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the climate change policies of the government of the United States and their implications for the global effort to address climate change.

lord henley: The UK is fully committed to working with other countries to tackle climate change and achieve the Paris Agreement goals including limiting global average temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has raised the issue of climate change with the President of the United States. She has been clear that she believes the Paris Agreement is the right global framework for tackling climate change.

Billing: EU Law

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the reason for their revision of the 2013 Users Guide to the Recast Late Payment Directive (BIS/13/705) into the 2014 Users Guide to the Recast Late Payment Directive (BIS/14/1116); and what key changes were made to that guidance in that process.

lord henley: The Users Guide to the Recast Late Payment Directive (BIS/13/705) was first published on 8 March 2013. It was republished on 3 October 2014 at “Users Guide to the Recast Late Payment Directive (BIS/14/1116)” to clarify the guidance on payment between public authorities and business on page 9 of the document.

Financial Reporting Council: Accounting Officers

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government who is the responsible accounting officer of the Financial Reporting Council for public body purposes; when they wereappointed;whether thatofficer's remuneration complies with public sector pay guidance; if so, whether their remuneration has so complied throughout their tenure; and whether they will place a copy of thatofficer's letter of appointmentin the Library oftheHouse.

lord henley: Stephen Haddrill, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), was appointed Accounting Officer on 01 August 2017. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy concluded in 2017 that the FRC will remain a public sector body. Following this decision, work has been undertaken to review all relevant guidelines including pay guidance. During the period in which the status of the FRC as a public body was the subject of or pending public status review, decisions on the application of the guidelines were taken by Departmental officials under delegated authority. Therefore, the remuneration of the FRC’s Accounting Officer was not subject to public sector pay considerations. A copy of the letter of appointment of Stephen Haddrill as Accounting Officer for the FRC is attached.



Letter of Appointment 31.07.18
(PDF Document, 145.93 KB)

Company Accounts: Standards

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 23 October (HL10458), what is their definition of “stakeholders that represent users”; and whether there are safeguards to ensure that the interest represented is in the public interest and not the proprietary interests of the fund management industry or corporate management more generally.

lord henley: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) does not have a specific definition of stakeholders that represent users of accounts. However, as explained in the answer I gave to Question HL10458, our aim at every step of policy development is to take account of the views of a wide range of stakeholders, not just those of users of accounts. This ensures that we arrive at a balanced view of policy which takes into account the wider UK public interest.

Fidelity International

baroness bowles of berkhamsted: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Henley on 23 October (HL10458), whether Mr Jed Wrigley of Fidelity International, the UK’s representative on the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, manages the money of (1) public investors invested in funds managed by Fidelity International, or (2) the private shareholders of Fidelity.

lord henley: Appointments to European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) follow EFRAG’s due process and are made in a personal capacity. It is not appropriate for Her Majesty’s Government to comment on Mr Wrigley and his work given his appointment has no connection to UK Government and he does not represent the UK on EFRAG. Further details about Mr Wrigley’s work can be found in his biography, available on EFRAG’s website.

ARM: Softbank

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they (1) were consulted by, or (2) have engaged with, SoftBank on the sale by that company of the intellectual property of Arm Holdings to a Chinese subsidiary of SoftBank; and what assessment they have made of the consistency of that sale with their position that "Britain is open for business".

lord henley: The UK is open for business - it is our ambition that the country remains one of the most attractive destinations in the world for inwards investment. The Government was not consulted by the Softbank group, however as part of our regular engagement with ARM, the Government was aware of the proposal for its Chinese subsidiary to enter into a joint venture. Sale of the subsidiary did not breach undertakings given at the time of Softbank’s acquisition of ARM.

Measurement: Northern Ireland

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the differences, if any, in the legislation relating to weights and measures in Northern Ireland compared to that in place in the rest of the UK.

lord henley: Weights and measures policy and legislation, apart from that relating to Units of measurement and United Kingdom primary standards, or to technical standards and requirements in relation to products in pursuance of an obligation under EU law, is devolved to Northern Ireland. Where the legislative framework for weights and measures is set at a national level, Northern Ireland has followed the same principles and approach as the rest of the UK. Where there is legislation relating to weights and measures at European level, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK must follow the same requirements.

Department for Education

Teachers: Pay

baroness pinnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of theanalysis provided by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on the teachers' pay award announced in July which states that “about 60 per cent of teachers will receive below-inflation awards of 2 per cent, or in the case of school leaders 1.5 per cent".

lord agnew of oulton: For all pay awards, the government considered the wider pressures on public spending and the need to ensure they were fair for both public sector workers and the taxpayer. The government provided for a significant uplift in starting salaries to focus on raising pay for the lowest paid teachers at the start of their careers. 43.5% of the teacher workforce, or the 199,000 teachers currently on the Unqualified Teacher and Main Pay Range ranges will see an uplift of 3.5% to their pay range. The remaining 56.5% will see an increase to their pay ranges of between 1.5% and 2%. Arrangements for teachers’ pay have been fundamentally reformed over the last four years following recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body. The freedoms the government have given headteachers over pay mean that there are no restrictions on increases within the minima and maxima of the national pay ranges. Schools are able to choose to give teachers a higher pay rise where this is appropriate to their particular local context and budget, subject to performance.

Schools: Construction

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new faith schools were built in each of the years 2010 to 2017; and how many non faith schools were built in the same period.

lord agnew of oulton: The table below lists the numbers and proportions of designated faith schools and non-faith schools opened each year from 2010 to 2017. Year OpenedFaithNo FaithTotal% Faith% No Faith2010234365.6%94.4%20118324020.0%80.0%201215839815.3%84.7%20132211713915.8%84.2%20141512514010.7%89.3%2015101081188.5%91.5%201610768611.6%88.4%20178566412.5%87.5%Total90631721  Source: ‘Get Information About Schools’ Regarding the definition of ‘built’, we have defined a ‘built’ school as one which has no predecessor, as recorded in the ‘Get Information About Schools’ links data, but which includes those that have resulted from local re-organisation of school provision.The table also reflects schools that have subsequently closed.For ‘type of establishment’, we have included all academies and maintained schools, including special schools, pupil referral units, alternative provision and 16 to 19 provision.

Home Education

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that home educators are registered.

lord agnew of oulton: Earlier this year, the government held a call for evidence on home education, including the issues of registration, monitoring and support for families which educate children at home. The responses to the call for evidence are still being analysed and considered. A formal government response document will be published in due course setting out the government’s intentions.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Food

lord bradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average food budget per prisoner per day in prisons in England and Wales.

lord keen of elie: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) allocates food budgets to prisons on the basis of £2.02 per prisoner per day, which covers the daily prisoner food and beverage requirements. With increased responsibilities to Governors since April 2017, and devolved budgets to prisons, what is actually spent on food per prisoner per day and the breakdown per meals is ultimately a decision for each Governor and their catering team. The food budget for prisoners within privately managed prisons is agreed in the contract between the provider and the Ministry of Justice, the details of which are commercially sensitive. This is reviewed regularly.

Prison Officers

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of prison officershad more than two years experience in each year from 2010to the last year for which records are available.

lord keen of elie: The percentage of band 3-5 officers who had two or more years’ experience in each year from March 2010 to June 2018 is presented in table 1 below. Table 1: Percentage of band 3-5 prison officers1 with two or more years’ experience2, 31 March 2010 to 30 June 2018 As atPercentage of band 3-5 officers1 with two or more years' service231 March 201092.7%31 March 201196.4%31 March 201297.0%31 March 201398.7%31 March 201498.5%31 March 201592.7%31 March 201685.3%31 March 201781.0%31 March 201870.1%30 June 201867.2% 1 Includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officer and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.2 Length of service in HMPPS calculated from most recent hire date. Where staff have transferred in from another Government Department or have transferred in through HMPPS taking over a function, length of service is calculated from entry to HMPPS.

Prisoners on Remand

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of people who were on remand for non-violent offences and awaiting trialin each year from 2010to the last year for which records are available.

lord keen of elie: The percentage of defendants on remand for non-violent offences and awaiting trial in the period from 2010 to 2018, at both the magistrates’ courts and the Crown Court, can be obtained from the attached tables. Non-violent offences has been interpreted as all the offences listed except violence against the person, sexual offences and robbery.



Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 18.79 KB)

Lugano Convention

the earl of kinnoull: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the White Paper,The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, published 12 September, what steps they have taken to accede to the Lugano Convention.

the earl of kinnoull: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) Switzerland, (2) Norway, and (3) Iceland concerning the UK's accessionto the Lugano Convention after Brexit.

lord keen of elie: We have made clear our intention to continue the UK’s participation in the Lugano Convention after our exit from the EU, in order to maintain our existing civil judicial cooperation with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. We expect our continued participation in this Convention to form part of the wider agreement on civil judicial cooperation we will reach with the EU. Throughout our Exit discussions, the EU has been clear that the UK’s continued participation in the Lugano Convention is a ‘future state’ issue, which can only be negotiated once we have concluded the Withdrawal Agreement. We remain confident of reaching agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement which will secure our continued participation in the Convention to the end of the Implementation Period. This will provide time until the end of 2020 to enable the UK, the EU and all the other parties to the convention to come to an agreement on a legally secure permanent transition for the UK. We have met with Switzerland, Iceland and Norway to make clear our desire to continue to participate in the Lugano Convention once we have left the EU.

Sir Edward Heath

lord thomas of gresford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any of the 40 complainants whose complaints were investigated by Operation Conifer applied for an award under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 with particular regard to paragraph 17 relating to criminal injury sustained on or after 1 August 1964; and if so, whether an award was granted to any of those complainants.

lord keen of elie: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. A manual check of all applications, received since the introduction of the Scheme, would be required to identify claims where a complaint was investigated by Operation Conifer.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Multiple Occupation: Licensing

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the issue of landlords acquiring bed and breakfast accommodation to circumvent thehouses in multiple occupation licensing legislation has been drawn to the attention of ministers; and, if so, whether ministers will act to amend the applicable rules.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The Government is not aware of cases where a landlord has acquired bed and breakfast accommodation in order to circumvent legislation on the licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). If the Lord Campbell-Savours has specific evidence of this, we would be pleased to consider it.Mandatory licensing applies to properties occupied by 5 or more people, forming two or more households and sharing facilities. It is recognised as having improved safety and property conditions in HMOs.

Landlords: Prosecutions

lord campbell-savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what information local authoritieshave provided to them on the number of prosecutions brought against private landlords for the letting of illegal housing provision in sheds and other buildings in private gardens.

lord bourne of aberystwyth: The department does not require local authorities to report the number of prosecutions brought against private landlords.Between 2011 and 2016 we provided over £12 million in grant funding for local authorities to tackle rogue landlords, including tackling illegal housing provision, which resulted in 70,000 inspections and 5,000 facing enforcement action or prosecution.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Vacancies

lord allen of kensington: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current shortfall in personnel in the (1) Army, (2) Royal Marines, (3) Royal Navy, (4) Royal Air Force; what effect this has had on leave arrangements for members of those services; and what has been the impact on the health and wellbeing of members of the armed forces.

earl howe: Information on the current strength of the UK Armed Forces, including a breakdown by Service, can be found at Excel Table 3A of the UK Armed Forces Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-service-personnel-statistics-2018.A copy of Table 3a is attached.Although the Armed Forces' strengths are below the target level they continue to meet all operational commitments. Our approach to monitoring capability "pinch points" helps to identify risks in a timely fashion so we can respond appropriately. We are very conscious of the leave and welfare needs of the Armed Forces and closely monitor the impact on the individuals, particularly in areas where there are shortages.



HL10924 - Current strength of UK Armed Forces
(Excel SpreadSheet, 486.88 KB)

Fisheries: Protection

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Earl Howe on 22 October (HL Deb, col 651), how many patrol vessels will be operational at any one time from the Royal Navy and the Marine Management Organisation for fishery protection.

earl howe: The Royal Navy is in the process of introducing five new, more capable Offshore Patrol Vessels, originally intended to replace the current four employed in the UK and the Falkland Islands. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is leading ongoing cross-Government discussions to determine our requirement for fisheries protection and compliance of patrols in UK waters following our exit from the EU. This will also help inform the Ministry of Defence's planning on our future requirement for Offshore Patrol Vessels.

Wellington Barracks

lord brougham and vaux: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to refurbish Wellington Barracks.

earl howe: The Army plans to spend approximately £10 million over the next five years to restore and refurbish Wellington Barracks. This will include refurbishing Single Living Accommodation, improving the central heating and ventilation systems, and providing a new guardroom. As part of its estate modernisation programme, the Army is also working with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to assess the longer term needs of the site.

Department for Work and Pensions

Occupational Pensions: Tax Allowances

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Pensions Regulator will require trustees of net pay pension schemes to make provision for low earners to save in a relief at source scheme and do not enrol workers who would have to pay 25 per cent extra for their pensions.

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government on what grounds they opted to automatically enrol low earners into a net pay pension scheme which forces them to pay 25 per cent more for their pension than they would do in a relief at source scheme.

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect low earners from losing out on tax relief in automatic pension enrolment.

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government who is responsible for ensuring that employers do not use net pay pension schemes for staff who earn below the personal tax thresholds.

baroness buscombe: Automatic enrolment is a great success story with more than 9.9 million workers enrolled into workplace pension saving and over 1.3 million employers meeting their duties to date. Under automatic enrolment the employer is responsible for putting in place a qualifying workplace pension scheme for their eligible workers. Employers have a choice, in the marketplace, of a number qualifying workplace pension schemes that can be used to fulfil their automatic enrolment duties; including the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST). NEST has no set-up costs, and a public service obligation to accept any employer who meets their scheme’s terms and conditions. The Pensions Regulator provides guidance to employers on choosing a pension scheme for their staff in order to discharge their statutory obligations under automatic enrolment. This provides information about the choice between net pay and relief at source schemes, and the implications of net pay schemes for employees who do not pay tax.

Social Security Benefits: Underpayments

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure there are no further instances of wrongly calculated benefits on the scale described by the Department for Work and Pensions in its document, ESA Underpayments: Forecast Numbers Affected, Forecast Expenditure and Progress on Checking, published on 17 October.

baroness buscombe: The Department has strengthened its governance arrangements for the identification and management of actual or potential errors, so the impact on individuals can be understood and an appropriate response put in place. The National Audit Office conducted an investigation into the underpayment errors in transferring people to Employment and Support Allowance from other benefits and the Public Accounts Committee published their recommendations on 18 July 2018. The Department’s response to this investigation was published on 9 October 2018 and is available on Gov.uk.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Plastics: Recycling

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following accounts of widespread fraud in activities involving the recycling, export and disposal of plastics, what action they intend to take to protect and promote genuine recycling of plastic.

lord gardiner of kimble: Businesses involved in the shipment of wastes are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during recycling. The export of waste for disposal is illegal and illegal exports of waste are part of the Government’s focus on tackling waste crime. Any UK operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions – from financial penalties up to imprisonment.The UK environmental regulators take an intelligence led approach to checking compliance with these obligations, intervening to stop illegal exports taking place. Last year, the Environment Agency (EA) issued 158 stop notices, prohibiting the export of unsuitable waste. It stopped 367 containers of waste destined for illegal export at ports and intervened further upstream to prevent 8,974 tonnes of waste from reaching our ports. Tackling all forms of waste crime is a Government priority. The Government has commissioned a review of serious and organised waste crime and, following this, we will set out our strategic approach to waste crime as part of the Resources and Waste Strategy.We have also committed in our 25 Year Environment Plan to reforming our producer responsibility systems (including packaging waste regulations) to incentivise producers to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.Waste exports will continue play an important role in resource management, however. Where the UK cannot recycle materials economically, exports can help ensure those materials are recycled rather than landfilled. As not all products sold in the UK are made in the UK, exports can help increase the amount of recyclable materials going into the new products we buy.

Home Office

Slavery: Children

lord mccoll of dulwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposed drop-in centres intended to offer support to victims of modern slavery after a positive conclusive grounds decision will be available to young people who entered the National Referral Mechanism as children but have since turned 18 years old.

baroness williams of trafford: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 31 October 2018.The correct answer should have been:

We have provided a comprehensive funding settlement that enables police forces to carry out their important work and meet their financial obligations, including national insurance contributions.In 2018/19 we increased total investment in the police system by over £460m. This includes £280m in force funding from increases in Council Tax precept income.From January 2017 to January 2018, 12 children exited the Independent Child Trafficking Advocate (ICTA) service because they turned 18. The data collected by the Home Office is anonymised for evaluation purposes. It is therefore not possible to cross-reference this with decision-making data from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). More information on the ICTA service and children who exited support can be found in the Interim Report published by the Home Office in July, and the accompanying data tables on Gov.UK. On turning 18, any young person who is awaiting an NRM decision, becomes eligible for support from The Salvation Army through the Victim Care Contract. This includes outreach and accommodation support where necessary. We are currently preparing to retender this contact which will be operational from 1 April 2020 and will include drop in services for up to 6 months post-conclusive grounds decision. It is part of the ICTA’s role to ensure they effectively transition children turning 18 into appropriate support upon leaving the ICTA service.

baroness williams of trafford: We have provided a comprehensive funding settlement that enables police forces to carry out their important work and meet their financial obligations, including national insurance contributions.In 2018/19 we increased total investment in the police system by over £460m. This includes £280m in force funding from increases in Council Tax precept income.From January 2017 to January 2018, 12 children exited the Independent Child Trafficking Advocate (ICTA) service because they turned 18. The data collected by the Home Office is anonymised for evaluation purposes. It is therefore not possible to cross-reference this with decision-making data from the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). More information on the ICTA service and children who exited support can be found in the Interim Report published by the Home Office in July, and the accompanying data tables on Gov.UK. On turning 18, any young person who is awaiting an NRM decision, becomes eligible for support from The Salvation Army through the Victim Care Contract. This includes outreach and accommodation support where necessary. We are currently preparing to retender this contact which will be operational from 1 April 2020 and will include drop in services for up to 6 months post-conclusive grounds decision. It is part of the ICTA’s role to ensure they effectively transition children turning 18 into appropriate support upon leaving the ICTA service.

Cabinet Office

Constituencies

baroness mcdonagh: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Boundary Commission proposals will be subject to a vote in Parliament; and if so, when.

lord young of cookham: An Order in Council is required give effect to the recommendations contained in all four Boundary Commission reports. The Order must be debated and approved by Parliament before the recommendations can be adopted.

Government Departments: Procurement

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to implement the recommendations in the National Audit Office’s report Projects leaving the Government Major Projects Portfolio, published on 19 October, that business cases should be “updated to reflect any changes to the scope of the project” and that the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and Treasury “need to work together to realise their ambitions for benefits realisation, cost discipline and selecting the right projects for future funding”.

lord young of cookham: The Government welcomes this report from the NAO and its recognition of the significant advances the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has made in its oversight of projects and in using benefits data to drive improved performance. The IPA will continue to develop its work with departments, to address the NAO’s findings and recommendations to strengthen adherence to business case processes.

Public Sector: Billing

lord mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government what automatic entitlement they provide to suppliers in the event of late payment by a public authority; and what process they follow to ensure that (1) interest, and (2) compensation claimed is paid without the need for a reminder.

lord young of cookham: The Public Contract Regulations 2015 require all contracting authorities to include 30 day payment terms in all public contracts and to ensure these payment terms are passed down the supply chain. Interest for late payment will be payable according to the terms of the particular contract or, in the absence of any express terms, for contracts for the commercial supply of goods and services, as provided for in the late payment legislation. Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, suppliers under such contracts are entitled to statutory interest, and debt recovery costs, on unpaid invoices. Where instances of late payment occur in public sector contracts, suppliers are encouraged to contact the government’s Mystery Shopper service.

Alastair Cook

lord tyrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to recomending Alastair Cook for knighthood.

lord young of cookham: The Government does not comment on individual honours nominations. Due to the confidential nature of the honours system, discretion regarding individual cases is considered important to safeguard the confidentiality and integrity of the honours system. Nominations are considered by one of ten independent Honours Committees before recommendations are made to Her Majesty The Queen.

Government Departments: Ethnic Groups

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Buscombe on 31 July (HL9752) and their response to the report by the Women and Equalities Committee, Race Disparity Audit, published by that Committee on 11 September, when they will adopt the same categories as are used in the Census as the minimum standard for data collection on ethnicity across Government departments; and whether this will include specific categories for Gypsies and Irish Travellers.

lord young of cookham: The ethnicity data published on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website includes data from the Census, published official statistics, numerous Government surveys and Departments’ own administrative records.   Currently, the website has 52 measures (web pages) that present data using the detailed classification of ethnicity developed for the 2011 Census, which includes Irish Traveller and Gypsy/Roma Travellers (GRT). However, figures for the GRT ethnic group in some of these measures were suppressed for reasons of confidentiality protection and/or because the numbers were too small to enable robust estimates to be produced. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the design of the Census, including advising Parliament on the format of a question about ethnicity.   ONS also has a leadership role across the Government Statistical Service, to encourage those conducting household surveys to use survey questions and output classifications that are harmonised with the Census approach, and across government more generally in relation to the use of harmonised approaches (to data collection) on administrative systems The Cabinet Office is working with the ONS on how to support the widespread adoption of the detailed ethnicity classification that will be used in the 2021 Census The Cabinet Office's Race Disparity Unit is also taking steps to enhance the degree of harmonisation in ethnicity data presented on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website, for example by requesting new analyses to match the high level groups that represent the current harmonised ethnicity standard.

Cybercrime

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their definition of what constitutes a cyber attack.

lord young of cookham: The National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 defines a cyber attack as the deliberate exploitation of computer systems, digitally dependent enterprises and networks to cause harm.

Cybercrime

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how any response to a cyber attack against the UK is decided.

lord young of cookham: The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), National Crime Agency (NCA) and regulators together agree the immediate response to a cyber incident, seeking to reduce harm and aid recovery within victim organisations. In April 2018, the NCSC in partnership with UK law enforcement introduced a new cyber attack categorisation framework to drive consistency and support improvements in the UK’s response. The framework encompasses cyber incidents in all sectors of the economy and gives consistency and clarity to response mechanisms for incidents. In those cyber incidents affecting UK infrastructure or critical services, the COBR crisis response mechanism is activated to coordinate incident management actions and priorities.

Cybercrime

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure there are consistent responses to cyber attacks across government departments.

lord young of cookham: The Cabinet Office published the HMG Minimum Cyber Security Standard in 2017, providing Departments with clear guidance on how they should plan for, and respond to, cyber incidents in a consistent manner. The Cabinet Office requires an annual update from Departments on how they meet the expectations as set out in the standard including a defined response plan to cyber security incidents.

Cybercrime

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what role private sector organisations will have in the Government’s cyber security work.

lord young of cookham: The National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) seeks to ensure that the UK is the safest place to live and work online. As such, the Strategy sets out action aimed at all sectors of society. Partnership with private sector organisations of all sizes is critical to HM Government’s ability to deliver on the ambition of the NCSS. HM Government provides support through the NCSS to stimulate the sector of specialist cyber security companies, working to create a domestic pipeline of development and investment in products and services that will make systems and infrastructure more resilient. Together with private sector manufacturers, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has recently published the Code of Practice for Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) Security to ensure that this emerging technology is secure by design. The private sector also contributes to the Government’s ambition of creating a sustainable pipeline of home grown cyber security professionals, playing a partnership role in programmes such as Cyber First and wider skills based initiatives. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works directly with the private sector on the cyber threat and how to counter it, and companies act on advice from the NCSC to help them prepare for - and to respond and recover from – cyber incidents.

Cybercrime

viscount waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made in response to the report by the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, Cyber Security Skills and the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (HL 172), published on 19 July.

lord young of cookham: The Government has submitted its response to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy’s report on Cyber Security Skills and the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure and we look forward to its publication.

Treasury

Brexit

lord lamont of lerwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether extending the implementation period for the UK's withdrawal from the EU would mean that payments by the UK to the EUduring that period would qualify for a full rebate.

lord bates: The financial terms of any extension to the implementation period would be subject to negotiations between the UK and the EU. However, the Government would not necessarily expect any option to extend the implementation period to be used. The draft legal text published by the UK and EU states that the implementation period will end on 31 December 2020, and the Government is working at pace to ensure that we have a future relationship in place by that date.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to his Written Answer on 13 July (HL9107), what was the cost of running the hereditary by-elections following (1) Lord Bridges ceasing to be a member of the House, (2) the death of Lord Lyell, (3) the retirement of Lord Walpole, (4) the retirement of Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, and (5) the retirement of Lord Glentoran; and in each case which organisation administered the election.

lord mcfall of alcluith: 1. The total cost to the House of Lords for the services provided by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in respect of the Lord Bridges by-election was £1,140. This includes VAT at 20%2. The total cost to the House of Lords for the services provided by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in respect of the Lord Lyell by-election was £3,540. This includes VAT at 20%3. The total cost to the House of Lords for the services provided by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in respect of the Lord Walpole by-election was £1,140. This includes VAT at 20%4. The total cost to the House of Lords for the services provided by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in respect of the Earl Baldwin of Bewdley by-election was £1,140. This includes VAT at 20%5. The total cost to the House of Lords for the services provided by Electoral Reform Services (ERS) in respect of the Lord Glentoran by-election was £1,140. This includes VAT at 20%All of these are in addition to the cost of House of Lords staff time spent organising the by-election which forms part of their normal duties and is not costed separately.

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to his Written Answer on 30 July (HL9783), what criteria were included in the invitation to tender for providing services to administer future hereditary by-elections.

lord mcfall of alcluith: The criteria were as follows: Service Delivery Proposal • Understanding of the specific requirements of the project being tendered for. Outline of how the services/goods will be delivered and how the Authority’s requirements will be met. (20%)• Provide detailed examples of similar work that you have undertaken (a minimum of two examples) in order to provide us with an appreciation of your abilities to successfully fulfil this contract. If you have not undertaken similar work; please provide information which testifies to your capabilities to carry out the work described in this document. (10%)• Ability to propose efficient and effective ways in delivering the contract which can be translated into value for money for the Authority. (5%)• Understanding of key risks for the project and quality of recommendations to mitigate those risks. (5%) Implementation plan and timescales • Outline of project implementation timings and ability to meet the Authority’s deadlines. (2%) Management, Supervision and Resources • Availability and quality of personnel including account managers, proposed approach to communication and relationship management. (3%)• Suitability of approach to quality, assurances and controls in place. (3%)• Business continuity approach and disaster recovery plan which will ensure continuous service delivery, including data access and data protection. (2%)

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to his Written Answer on 30 July (HL9783), what was the closing date for the responses to the invitation to tender for providing services to administer future hereditary by-elections.

lord mcfall of alcluith: The closing date was 20 September 2018.

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to his Written Answer on 30 July (HL9783), where was the invitation to tender for providing services to administer future hereditary by-elections advertised.

lord mcfall of alcluith: In line with the Parliamentary Procurement Rules (p. 7), the cost of the contract was estimated to be between £10k and £50k and this allows the contracting Authority to select a minimum of 3 suppliers to invite to tender. There is no requirement to advertise the opportunity openly. 4 suppliers were invited to tender and 3 proposals were submitted.

Hereditary Peers: By-elections

lord grocott: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker,  further to his Written Answer on 30 July (HL9783), which organisations responded to the invitation to tender for providing services to administer future hereditary by-elections.

lord mcfall of alcluith: ERS, Kanto Elect and UK Engage responded to the invitation to tender.